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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsMaybe Ulduar drakes aren't going away in 3.2 after all
by Michael Sacco 
Jun 18th 2009 at 6:30PM
We had a bit of a minor freakout when we heard that the Rusted and Ironbound protodrakes might be getting removed as rewards for the Ulduar meta achievements in Patch 3.2, and then even more of one when the slow trickle of information about 3.2 turned into a firehose. Bornakk mentioned the change initially with the caveat that it was their intention to remove the drakes eventually, but that he'd seek definite confirmation either way as to whether it was happening in 3.2 or not. There's been no update about it in the past few weeks.
Well, after a thorough reading of the 3.2 patch notes, I don't see a single trace of anything saying the drakes are getting removed. At the risk of counting my protochickens before they hatch, I think we might be safe, given how fast 3.2 looks like it's coming out.
This is at least a relief for my guild, who's doing pretty well on 10-man hard-mode progression but ... is there a word worse than "dismal"? ... on 25-man hard-modes. Maybe there's hope for us yet.
Should we get the soul-crushing confirmation that they'll be removed with 3.2, we'll be sure to let you know. There's still a lot of time for change on this one, though -- maybe it was an accidental omission, maybe it'll get decided on later -- but for now, you can breathe a little easier knowing you might be able to keep hacking away at those hard modes to get your undeniably awesome drakes even after the Argent Coliseum is commanding your guild's attention.
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!Filed under: Patches, Raiding, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Pow Jun 18th 2009 7:18PM
I can understand allowing for the more "hardcore" raiders to be given the perks they deserve; but we're tossing around a lot of subjective terms here. I raid Ulduar three nights a week for 4 hours straight each night. I absolutely consider myself hardcore... but to the Blood Legions and Ensidias of the world, I'm still in raider kindergarten. The mounts have an undeniable appeal to a LOT of players; this I doubt can be argued. But I consider them the draw and motivation to even complete these hard modes... otherwise, it's just another weekly gear run. Removing this prize is removing the major appeal of the achievements, let alone the reason to visit (or revisit!) old content which, last I heard, was something Blizzard wants us to do. I just think that if something like a gear cap (much like a particular Algalon achievement) was imposed, it would still present a big challenge to the more "progressed" guilds and to those who still dream about hitting level 80. Besides, who'd want to get caught riding a Black Proto Drake another patch or two down the line? They're soooo last winter.
Menehune Jun 18th 2009 7:28PM
hmmm...I think instead of removing the item, they should just nerf it to regular flight mount speed so that anyone can continue to work for the achievement. It will keep people interested in doing the Ulduar achievements longer.
Drtdood Jun 18th 2009 7:40PM
I wonder if they've considered adding the removed drakes to a boss loot table. Even if it was a .1% chance drop, it's still better than nothing! I would really like the chance to get an ironbound some day.
megamogx Jun 18th 2009 7:46PM
Fact is that blizzard applied the same crappy logic of seasons to pve and it doesnt work for a guild progressing it just causes more drama and stress for those that want it and guilds that do not wanna bother. If having more time to play(so you can get into a raiding guild that spends time on hardmodes) makes one a better player who deserves the mount well then i guess im a crappy player who got like server first bosses in vanilla when encounters where hard(server first cthun 4h when it was hard etc etc) but did i get any super special vanity rewards? No
Why do hardcore players now deserve rare vanity mounts that can only be earned X unknown time frames? Its a slap in face to older players who have to hold down a job or 2 and still have some wut of a social life. Hardcore raiding is number one cause of burnout and turning it into these seasons is just compounding the problem.
I know 310% should be kept rarer for those that earn it but the speed increase should have been applied to the character for doing the achievements in the time frame for all their mounts well allowing everyone to work towards raid achievements. Now nowon even bothers with naxx ones cause there is 0 reason to.
Also aged mounts could have been added with the regular speed and this was asked a billion times by players only to say nah we don't give crap about anything but trying to force you to play each pve season if you want a chance at the pimp mounts...
Ilevel checker was another solution which is doable in games coding already but blizzard doesn't really give crap about the majority of players anymore its all about rewarding the first ones to the finish lane instead of those who bother to finish the race period.
What truly trivialized the older content was making it pointless to do... Do you think anyone is gonna bother with trying to zerg maly or do shortman naxx etc etc once there is no reason to? It sure is fun trying to nag you guild into doing these only to be bitched at by those that don't wanna do an achievement cause they already got it or they are just to lazy.
Adding and removing 3 mounts per BS season for esport sake is pretty lame and a bad game plan....
Ringo Flinthammer Jun 18th 2009 8:04PM
Or, alternately, (I say this as someone who works 50 hours a week and has a wife and has a small child) it's meant to be a reward for the really hardcore folks.
Blizzard wants everyone to see their raid zones nowadays, so the incentive that "only X percent of people will ever fight Arthas" is no longer applicable.
What does it hurt you if you don't get an ironbound proto-drake? You can already fly all over, and in a few months, you can have a 310 speed drake of your own.
My raiding group has cleared Yogg on both 10 and 25 man, and while we've made a dent in the 10-man hard modes, the 25-man ones have been extremely hard so far. So while I have a (small to moderate, depending on when the drakes get yanked away) chance of getting a rusted drake, I have no expectation of getting an ironbound one. And you know what? Total props to those who do. I will envy them their sweet ride with the knowledge that they dug deeper and won harder fights than I did or could. I will no more resent the people with them than I do people who drive fancier cars than I do in real life.
Slartibart Jun 18th 2009 11:56PM
Well put Ringo,
As another working 50+ hours, and still managing to see content, but by no means knocking down all these hard modes, I like that there's still a goal to reach for. And if I can't get it, so be it, I wasn't able to invest enough time to.
I love the sense of entitlement these changes usually cause.
megamogx Jun 18th 2009 9:55PM
Must be nice, however not all guild progress like urs does. Mine is still banging its head on yogg and losing many players do to boredom burnout or leaving to other better guilds. But i guess if i was a good player i would join a better guild rather then play with and help players ive known for years and have much fun with in order to have a chance at the drakes each PVE season. The whole point was to keep 310% flying rare according to blizzard. So why not let anyone who has a 310% flying drake already have a chance to earn these mounts tell the next expansion? Or buff naxx bosses to compensate for gear etc etc etc rather then reward the so called hardcore players so they can ebay their accounts for more money when they quit or inflate their epeen.
What does it hurt you if other players get these later when the people who get these mounts are just going to get next one in the next pve season and repeat over and over tell they ebay/quit?
The pros for keeping it in far out way the cons especially when there is many options to keep them in fairly by buffing bosses or ilevel checker or even slower aged versions or heck applying speed to characters rather then just give 1-2 mounts each season to people for being in better guilds.
Tridus Jun 18th 2009 10:22PM
It's too soon to remove them. Almost nobody has 25 man drakes.
Hell, 3.2 itself is too soon. Ulduar isn't that old. Unless we're getting a 4 month PTR, this sucks for a lot of guilds.
tim b Jun 19th 2009 4:52AM
Am I the only player who's really underwhelmed by drakes as rewards for raiding achievements anyway? It just seems a bit unimaginative on Blizzard's part, instead of some new really great gear, they just stick in a different-coloured lizard. It does seem to motivate some people, quite a few in my guild are working towards the iron one by doing all those contrived Ulduar achievements. But to me, I feel that the different drakes aren't distinctive enough to be really worth busting your guts for. There are a couple of Twilight Drakes in my guild, but anyone who recognises them and is impressed is gonna be impressed by your 'Twilight Vanquisher' title anyway (or would have been in the time when that was an impressive title). The only really distinctive mounts I can think of in the game are the Ashes of Alar one (still only 2 on my server as far as I know), the flying carpet, the Setthek Halls one, the turtle from fishing, and I guess the Stratholme one although loads of people seem to have that these days. Anyway, screed over.
rai Jun 27th 2009 8:12AM
it is more likely they neglected to include it into the patch notes then rethought their decision. Don't forget, there was also a huge backlash against taking out the original protodrakes when ulduar was being released, they didn't flinch. That fact, plus their tone in the original announcement of their removal this time leads me to believe they will not change their minds, no matter how bad an idea it is, no matter what other alternatives are suggested. As they have stated, they have their mindsets on what these drakes are- the PvE versions of gladiator drakes and they aren't opening those up past their due dates either, count on that!